First Day of School

The girls had their first day of Children's Day Out on Tuesday.  We had meet the teacher last week, so Ainslee was able to get a taste of just how much fun she was going to have.  She was very excited to start school!  When I dropped her off at her room this morning she ran right in and started working at their tables.  The teacher had to remind her to tell me goodbye, which I took as a sign she was going to have a great day!  Hattie went into her classroom without a fuss and I am sure she was excited to see so many of her little baby friends in her class. 
The car ride home was quiet, the house was quiet, it was strange.  I ran lots of errands, cleaned up the house, did laundry, ate a quick lunch, and forced myself to relax for about 10 minutes before pick up time.
I got great reports from their teachers.  Apparently Hattie did not cry all day and was a happy little girl.  Ainslee said she had fun and looked exhausted.  She told me she sang songs, played kitchen and legos, ate lunch, played in the gym, and made a friend.  They both took great naps when we got home, so I know they played hard.  I think they are going to have a great year!

Ainslee's first day of school picture

 My best attempt at Hattie's first day of school picture- she was not in the mood

 She also wouldn't hold still for a sister picture.  I thought about "staging" a picture later, but this is real life! :)

Walking!

Hattie had been taking a step or two here and there, but finally decided to really go for it on August 20th.  She took about 7 steps across the kitchen in front of Mommy, Daddy, and Ainslee.  The rest of the afternoon she spent perfecting her new skill.  She is not a 100% walker yet, crawling is still faster and easier, but she is doing very well.  At our church's potluck lunch last Sunday, she learned how to stand from a sitting position, so now she doesn't even have to pull up on something first.  We are so proud of her and she is SUPER proud of herself!

She has also started to do more of this!  And that makes Mommy very happy!  I now see a light at the end of the tunnel on the nursing.

12 Months Old!

Hattie Cakes turned a year old on July 29th!  Daddy made special birthday pancakes for her and we had a playdate at the splashpark with all of our MOPS friends.  I'm pretty sure she was completely oblivious to the festivities, but Ainslee and I sang "Happy Birthday to You!" MANY times. :)  On Saturday we had her birthday party.  I went with an "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream" theme, since she literally screams whenever she sees ice cream, I wish I were kidding... We had lots of friends and family over to help us celebrate Hattie's big day with pizza, fruit/veggies, ice cream cone cupcakes, and of course- lots of ice cream!  I think Hattie had a great time!

12 month stats:
Height: 29 inches
Weight: 17lb 13 oz. 

 Hattie and McKade in the bowl of "Dip and Dots"

 Hattie and her adorable baby friends, Anna, McKade, Jackson, and Caroline

 Ethan Ainslee and Cameron enjoying their pizza...and eyeing the ice cream toppings

 Grandpa and G-Ma

 Aunt Yo's amazing ice cream cone cupcakes!

 The birthday girl!

 Quick cuddles with Mommy

 Enjoying the playground

 She was not too sure about everyone singing to her

 She was SURE about the cake!

 This is right before we finally cut her off

 And right before her bath :)

 Taking her turn at the ice cream cone pinata

 Pop made a fun Pin the Cherry on the Ice Cream Cone game!

 Grammie snuggles next to her birthday wreath

 Great-Putt and Great-Memaw helped us celebrate!

Summer Recap

We have been trying to make the most of our summer and just enjoy the family time before Daddy goes back to work.  I did a terrible job taking pictures this summer, but I'll blame that on the fact that we were all having too much fun to stop for a picture.  Also, the fact that if we went anywhere, it was man-on-man with diaper bags, snacks, and strollers...not conducive to picture taking.  Here is a little recap of our summer events:

• Port Aransas trip with the Kilpatrick family (SUPER FUN!)
• Playdates with friends
• Ainslee's first movie theater experience (Winnie the Pooh)
• Flying L Ranch
• Multiple Sea World trips
• Tubing/Skiing on Grandpa and G-Ma's boat at the river

4th of July

I think my children have a new favorite holiday, the Fourth of July.  Ainslee is still talking about it and asking, "When's it going to be the fourth of July agian?"  We went downtown to see the arts and crafts festival in the morning, took a long afternoon nap, and then headed up to our church for the evening festivities.  Our church had corn dogs, snow cones, ice cream, music, games, and crafts for the kids.  They are also located right across the street from the park where the fireworks were going to go off.  They had me at corn dogs and snow cones, my favorite! :)  We met up with a couple of other families that have kiddos the same ages as ours and we all had a great time.  The big kids ran around all night and we made a pallet in the back of Jason's truck and had a "redneck playpen" for the babies.  It worked quite well.  Kerrville was about the only place doing a fireworks show in this crazy drought, but it was spectacular!  I honestly don't think I have ever seen Ainslee more excited.  She just kept squealing and saying, "Whoa that one was huge, did you see that?!"  Hattie had fun pointing at them and jumping in my lap.  It was a great night with friends and family!

My patriotic cuties

 Ainslee, Abigail, and Ethan enjoying their corn dogs

 Caroline, Anna, and Hattie watching their crazy older siblings :)

 Cute little friends!

11 Months

Hattie is 11 months old!  I can't believe my baby is going to turn 1 soon!  Hattie is ALL over the place these days.  She is crawling, standing, cruising, and climbing!  I think we have a little monkey on our hands.  This little girl has developed a clear opinion on things and knows how to express what she likes and doesn't like.  She is not going to be a push-over, that's for sure :) 

She has also turned into an eating machine this month.  She will eat anything you give her and lots of it, although I'm not sure where she puts it, she's still pretty petite.  We have discovered that she loves cottage cheese, which makes me want to gag every time I feed it to her :)  Kiwi and blueberries are her favorite fruits this month.  Thankfully, she cut two more teeth just this week, so we might get to expand our food repertoire. 

I think we also have a first word- kitty! Hattie says, "yeye" every time I open her curtains (and there is usually a cat or two in the yard).  She will also point outside if you ask her where the kitties are.  I think Yeye also means Ainslee and Grammie.  Mama and Dada are still used, but I'm not sure if they really mean anything to her yet :( 

Hattie has become so good at playing by herself.  She can keep her self entertained for over 30 minutes just playing with her toys and books.  She loves putting things into a bucket or cup.  She's definitely trying to figure out what goes with what and how things fit together.  It's so fun to watch her explore.  She seems to have a lot of patience when trying things out, hopefully this will be a lifelong  trait (one that most definitely came from Daddy).  She still loves to play and wrestle with her sister too.  They have so much fun laughing together and Ainslee gets so excited when Hattie does something new.  I hope these two will always have fun together.

Hey Hattie, how old are you going to be next month?!

 Can you see those cute little teeth?

Father's Day '11

We had a fun father's day celebration with Aunt Yo and Uncle Trevor.  They were coming into town to pick up Ruby, who we had been keeping for the week.  We had a great meal at Mamacita's and played a little Wii before they had to head back to Corpus.  These two girls are so lucky to have such a wonderful man to call daddy!  He plays with them, cuddles with them, and loves them unconditionally.  God sure knew what he was doing when He gave Jason two daughters! 

Sea World

We finally caved and purchased season passes to Sea World!  We went in June with Bo and Cameron for the first time.  Ainslee and Cameron had a blast running everywhere together.  It's a lot of work keeping up with three kids (and all their stuff!) in a theme park, so the pictures are very limited.  Ainslee said her favorite part was the wave pool, which was quite relaxing.  We plan to go back soon to actually watch some of the shows. 

Cameron loved feeding the dolphins! Ainslee thought they were going to eat her and refused to partake (she thought they were sharks, haha) 

 Look at that shark!

 Dads and kids.  We missed Katie, she was on a mission trip to Utah!

 Rub a dub dub, three cuties in a tub!  Washing off from a hot day in the sun!  Can you tell they were worn out :) 

3 and a HALF!



This silly little girl is 3 1/2 years old now!  She is full of imagination, creativity, and lots of personality!  She constantly amazes us with phrases she says and things she remembers.  She currently loves painting, drawing, playing with friends, science- "investigating" things, Sunday School, going to the park, playing in the dirt (Mommy's least favorite activity), and animals.  Her favorite color is purple and her favorite food is waffles with Nutella.  She says she wants to be a teacher like Daddy when she is "all grown up" and she can "tell the kids what to do."  She has become very cautious lately and takes awhile to warm up in new situations.  Ainslee loves her family and is always so excited to spend time with her extended family members.  She is an amazing big sister.  She is still just as opinionated as ever and there is not much you can do to change her mind. :)   I'm hoping this trait will serve her well in adulthood.
We love you so much Ainslee Grace and are so proud of the little girl that you have become!

10 Months

Hattie Cakes is 10 months old (and a week, but please ignore my tardiness).  She has changed more this month than any other!  She is babbling all the time, sometimes even shouting.  Lots of dada, mama, yaya, ahhh sounds but I'm not sure if she means anything by them yet.  She can sign "more" and for sure knows what it means.  This kid is an eater!  Quite surprising considering her initial snubbing of food.  I think she would sit in her high chair for several hours if you just kept giving her something to eat.  This is quite nice for when we go to restaurants.  There is one stipulation these days- she must be able to feed herself.  She doesn't really even like for me to put "real" food in her mouth anymore.  What.A.Mess!  Some of her favorites are avocado, banana, beans, cheerios, blueberries, and cheese.  It's hard to find a variety of foods that can be eaten with only 2 teeth (that aren't even all the way in). 

She is all over the place.  She can crawl on all fours, but will do so only on carpet.  She finds she can go faster by sliding on her stomach on our wood floors.  She is pulling up on everything, and can even pull herself up and onto the ledge of our stone fireplace, ugh! 
It is so fun to watch her learn and really understand new things these days.  She loves to point to the things she finds interesting and have you tell her what they are.  She is starting to appreciate books, but will only sit through a couple of pages.  Apparently, all this excitement and movement make it quite difficult to fall asleep.  Naptimes have been challenging, but once she falls asleep she is usually out for about 1 1/2 - 2 hours (twice a day).  She has done great in the nursery at church and will let just about any woman hold her.  She is still a little leery of most men, but sure does love her daddy! 
I love watching Hattie and Ainslee interact even more theses days.  It's so cute when they crawl into their play tent and laugh and play together.  It amazes how well they already play together, I can't wait to watch their sister relationship grow!

I love you to pieces sweet little Hattie Cakes, but if you could hold off on turning a year old, this Mommy would really appreciate it! :)

Pulling up on EVERYTHING

She has a very good "sad" face!

How does your garden grow?

We were so glad that GG was able to come spend an extra week in Kerrville with G-Ma and Grandpa after the wedding.  We had lots of fun playing, especially in the garden.  GG helped Ainslee pick lots of blackberries.  They also had a blast riding around on Grandpa's Ranger! 

Picking berries with GG

 G-Ma teaching Hattie about blackberries

 Rows of corn, lots of varieties of beans, and onions (I think)

 Garlic!

 Tomatoes

 Squash